Category Archives: Africa

The Writer and the Politician

December 11, 2013 They had first met in Cairo, in 1961, when she was working for “The Arab Observer,” an English-language weekly, and married to Vusumzi Make.  Make and Mandela were political enemies, as were their organizations — the Pan Africanist … Continue reading

Posted in Africa, Atlantic, contemporary poetry, Global South, YouTube videos | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Equiano’s Turkey

November 28, 2013 Yes, according to Mark Forsyth, the Thanksgiving bird is named after a country 4429 miles away. But not the first to be so named.  In fact, the original turkey was a guinea fowl from Madagascar, brought to … Continue reading

Posted in Africa, African-American literature, Afro-Asian alliances, Americas, Atlantic, Diaspora, Turkey, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Mama Day: The Tempest in the Global South

October 2, 2014 Her name is Miranda (“Mama”) Day — yes, that Miranda, the one who said, “Oh, wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is!” Gloria Naylor is not the first to take on Shakespeare, of course. … Continue reading

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Zora Neale Hurston: American literature as World Literature?

August 14, 2013 The polemical essay, “World Lite,” just out in n+1, is perhaps generating more heat than light.  But it does raise an interesting question: what exactly is “world literature”?  How broad its scope, and what could be in … Continue reading

Posted in Africa, African-American literature, Caribbean literature, Catholicism, Colonization, Creole, Diaspora, Global South, Igbo, Latin America, peripheral networks, Race, slavery, Twentieth century literature, World religions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Emily Dickinson’s Africa

June 19, 2013 Whitman’s “Ethiopia Saluting the Colors” (written during Sherman’s Savannah Campaign) has offended some readers; it also has the distinction of being set to music — by the African American composer, H.T. Burleigh. Dickinson’s Ethiopia isn’t so well … Continue reading

Posted in Africa, Contemporary novel, Global South, Nineteenth-century literature, Race | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Langston Hughes’s Children Literature

May 31, 2013 My class, “Regional, National, Global,” has no special focus on children’s literature, but it does seem to come up a lot. I think it’s because of Langston Hughes — the uncertain borders of his poetry, holding a … Continue reading

Posted in Africa, African-American literature, African-American music, Children's literature, Cities, collaboration, Educational institutions, Ethnicity, Experimental poetry, jazz, Modernist poetry, Music, print medium, Twentieth century literature, World history | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Michelle Cliff, Adrienne Rich: Animal Sound

April 3, 2013 It’s surprisingly difficult to find a photo of the two of them.   In fact I found only one.   Yet they’ve been together since 1976, a companionship of almost 40 years. Maybe photos aren’t the point? … Continue reading

Posted in Africa, African languages, Animals, Auditory field, Black-Jewish alliances, Caribbean literature, Contemporary literature, Diaspora, Ethnicity, Media, Music, peripheral networks | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Frederick Douglass, H.D.: Egypt Again

Janurary 2, 2013 She never mentioned him and probably never read him.  Still, he anticipated her. Visiting Egypt in 1887, Douglass wrote: “I do not know of what color and features the ancient Egyptians were, but the great mass of … Continue reading

Posted in Africa, ancient Greece, Christianity, Classics, Comparative literature, Egypt, Gender, Global South, Islam, Modernist poetry, Poetry, Race, slavery, Translation, Twentieth century literature, Wars, world literature | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Muriel Rukeyser, Wallace Stevens: Books of the Dead

December 26, 1012 There’s a picture of the two of them – Stevens standing at the back, and Rukeyser seated in front with Marianne Moore.   To the left of him from where they were, and to the left of … Continue reading

Posted in Africa, Classics, Egypt, Environmentalism, Experimental poetry, Global South, Journalism, Labor history, lyric, Poetry, print medium, Race, Remediation, Translation, Twentieth century literature, Vernacular dialects | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Olaudah Equiano, Dave Brubeck: à la Turk

December 5, 2012 Equiano liked Turkey.  He had gone there from Italy in 1769, and greatly admired the grapes and pomegranates in the ancient city of Smyrna, “the richest and largest I ever tasted.”  He also liked the fact that … Continue reading

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